Saturday, January 3

WELCOME TO YOUR SEASON OF OPPRTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES

Remember not the former things; the unpleasant twists in your experience this last year. God is set to do a new thing; for to everything there is a time, a season and the appointed time when God makes specific things beautiful. Before he does a new thing he gives indications, and man’s misery is continually great upon him for failing to know both the time and the purpose attached to such times. Any attempt, therefore, to move over with your expectation and plans into a new season without knowing how to key them into God’s vision for your life in the season will result in frustration. I would want you to know that HELP IS ON THE WAY and that you should GET READY FOR YOUR DEFINING MOMENTS - JOHN 11.1-45.

The crisis in the past could have made you to question the relationship that you have with the Lord, or if he is ever concerned about you. You have wondered why you were sick or broke, stumbling and falling. You have been like a certain man, Lazarus (whose name in Hebrew, Eleazar means ‘helped of God’) who was so sick that he could not personally call on the Lord but was blessed notwithstanding for not being alone; he belonged to a family that could send prayers to the Lord to inform and plead with him that the one he loved was sick. And there was a SOLUTION IN SPITE OF THE CONDITION, for when the Lord got the message he declared that the sickness wasn’t to death but by reason of opportunity it is for the glory of God – 2 Cor. 12.9-10, and that others might believe.

The condition got worse, because in spite of the serious condition and an urgent call, the response was delayed - Christ stayed where he was (delayed) for two days.

Did he not hear the prayer?

I thought when I ask according to his will he hears and answers?
To make the matter worse when he was set to move, the disciples indicated a reason why he should not.

And why should my circumstance be posed against my answer?

The good news, however, that point towards the season 2009, was that instead of the Lord assenting to the situation around Lazarus’ condition and turning his face away from the direction of Bethany, he gave an analogy that holds much lesson. Twelve hours, he said, are in the day; they provide opportunity for work and when you respond to that time when there is light, there would be no mishap.

He was in essence saying that there was an opportune timeframe to answer to Lazarus need, and that nothing else could stand against that which has to be done. When the season of light comes man must respond to it by making the right move. When the season of light is come with its opportunity it also enlightens one to see the problem in a new vein. Your condition can’t be too much or too bad for our friend Lazarus is not dead but sleeps, and we’ve got to go wake him up.

That might not be understood by everyone, but that is just the truth about this year. Effort to make them know that your situation is quite serious would only cause them to come up with a sincere agenda to identify with your predicament and not your victory. But it shall not be according to their thought; it shall be according to the light for this season; the word which God has spoken: Your condition can’t be too much or too bad for the season for your help is here shall be fulfilled.

An OPPORTUNED SEASON or defining MOMENTS are such times that stand out from others – ecc. 9.11; A season of light when things could be done or made possible; When mishap could be avoided because of the presence of light; and a time when an easy way is found out of a problem (he sleeps, let’s go wake him). When such time comes you have a lighter perception about your condition (he sleeps) and not necessarily a denial of the fact concerning the condition (then said Jesus ... plainly)

HELP IS ON THE WAY IN SPITE OF THE WORSENED CONDITION. The body though have been buried for four days; the stage already set for mourning and commiseration; regret, already being voiced, for if the response had come earlier it would not have gone this bad to a state seemingly beyond repairs. Listen to the words of the Lord to you “Your brother shall rise again.” Your problem shall be solved.

And you must realise that the Lord is concerned; touched by your plight; moved by your evident unbelief; and he is saying to you “if you believe, you will see the glory of the Lord.” The word glory here defines the essence of God’s nature, will, and ability. Christ’s word actually means that if you believe, you will see all of God in your life, for he is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all you ask or imagine. Get ready for the help, for it is on the way! But CAN YOU WORK TOGETHER WITH GOD THIS YEAR?

Those who shall experience him this year would be those who see the light (the word of God) enough to respond in faith to the Lord. I am not denying the fact that you too could be like Martha who wants her brother back from the dead, but feels it can only get better bye and bye.

I am also not oblivious of some others possibly being like the more devoted Mary (they have their regrets about the delay), but would be comforted that the Lord has come.

He expects of you this year faith and not presumption. Faith does not only commit all to the Lord, it also obeys the instruction and the directions by responding in action (an indication that it is not dead– Jm. 2.26). Presumption, however, asks for what it cannot see as possible; expects the entire process to be of the Lord without seeing the need for obedient actions that collaborate with Him.

True faith responds to divine direction and works together with God. If you would receive the help this year, you should also be ready to collaborate with him by taking away the stone in obedience to his command and your dead shall be raised

To experience the best of God this New Year, I plead with you...

1. Be persuaded that he loves you and maintain a steady relationship with him – Eph. 3.17-21; Jn. 13.1; Rom. 8.35. Stop questioning why you are in your condition and if he ever loves you.

2. See God’s opportunity in your plight no matter how serious it is – 2 Cor. 12.9-10. Your situation is not terminal and it is not even an end in itself. In this year there shall be an opportunity in it for the Lord and for the glory of his name. It shall be an opportunity for God’s glory and a potential testimony to cause others to believe. This is why you should realise that the delay is not a denial, but a stalling for the right opportunity and a defining moment that will be right for the change you need

3. Go for light and consider neither your plight nor your circumstance by embracing God’s word – Jn. 2.5 and aligning your perspective to what God sees in spite of all odds – Zech 4.6-7.

External conditions notwithstanding this year, the Lord will fulfil his word in your life. T here is no reason why he should not or may not because there is one superior reason - your time has come. Every sincere agenda to commiserate with you because of the knowledge of your present plight shall not see the light of the day. An end has come to your regrets and to your doubts.

4. Believe in your God and let the condition of your heart be superior to your circumstances – 2 Chro. 20.20; 1 Jn. 4.4; 5.4, not by being presumptuous, but by collaborating with God in obedience – Jm. 2.26.
Against all odds, this year, you will win in your situations. Repeated schemes and conspiracies against you, notwithstanding, you will repeatedly come out on tops. As you learn the rules of the game and cease from presumptuous tendencies, you will have your insufficiencies and inadequacies complemented by His grace and mercy.

“For the LORD will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

"Listen to Me, My people; And give ear to Me, O My nation: For law will proceed from Me, And I will make My justice rest as a light of the peoples.

My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arms will judge the peoples; The coastlands will wait upon Me, And on My arm they will trust.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment, And those who dwell in it will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not be abolished.” Isa 51:3-6

Again I looked throughout the earth and saw that the swiftest person does not always win the race, nor the strongest man the battle, and that wise men are often poor, and skillful men are not necessarily famous; but it is all by chance (opportunity), by happening to be at the right place at the right time.
Eccl 9:11-12 TLB

Isaac Tolu Boluwatise

Tuesday, June 17

WITNESSING 2 - BREAKING THE JINX OF APATHY

BREAKING THE JINX OF APATHY - Rom. 10 8-15

Having seen the promise of Christ to build his church and that he did not leave it at that without assigning the church to a definite task, It becomes imperative that we look into the assignment vis-à-vis the attention we give it if we are pleasing him that called us (1 Tim. 2.5). We have been given an assignment that is made clear in the scriptures. It is seen from different perspectives: Seen as in the giving of pounds – Luk. 19.10-19. as in the sending – Jn. 20.21. As in the assurance of the possibility of greater works etc. – Jn. 14.12

The assignment constitutes the witnessing of Christ to the world – Matt. 28.19; Mk. 16.15; Luk. 24.46-48

It has to do with the witnessing his death. The death of Christ was not like the normal experience of every other man. He did not die he had sinned. Rather he died because of man’s sin and the sentence of God concerning man’s sin (death) - Gn. 2.16-17; Ezek. 18.4, 20; Rom. 6.23.

If God’s righteous requirement would be met death must be accomplished. He must die as the sinless Lamb of God that carried away the sin of the world – Jn. 1.29; so that whoever believes in him shall not perish …. – Jn. 3.16. This believing has to do with practical faith in the substitutionary nature of Christ’s death. The reason why Paul stated that “If you believe in your heart the Lord Jesus …. – Rom. 10.9-12. But if Christ’s death is the only message we have to declare, would it have constituted good news. Not only are we to witness or testify concerning his death …

We are to witness also his resurrection – Luk. 24.46 That he died for our sins but was raised for our justification – Rom. 4.25-26. A happening which enhanced the presentation of the proof of his redemptive work – Jn. 20.17.
It is the combination of these two that constitute the good news we preach – 1 Cor. 15.3-5.

Our Assignment which is to witness Christ features in two ways

It has to do with our testimony concerning the substitutionary work of Christ (the death which he experienced on the behalf of all sinners, taking their place to save them from death) – Mk. 16.19; Jn. 15.26,27.

Rom. 10.8-15 brings in a serious issue that the word that produces faith is to be proclaimed for everyone to believe and confess, calling on him whom they have believed. But see this that …

They will believe him of whom they have heard;

They will hear only because someone had preached to them;

Someone would preach because he has been sent;

The scriptures declared that the feet of the sent ones are beautiful – Isa 52.7 They run swiftly on the mountain because of the good news they bring; those who behold them from the distance also look forward to the message they bring. This scripture gives the implication that the beauty of the feet of those who bring the message has to do with their attitude based on their conviction and excitement about the good news they bear.

The assignment also has to do with the life we live as a result of the gift of salvation given to us. The world tells us today that you can only give what you possess. You can only offer the gospel which has transformed your life. Hence our lives therefore must reflect what we have – Phil 2.11-13; lest unbelievers blaspheme him that we preach – Rom. 2.17-24;

There is however an apathy that we cannot afford concerning the assignment today.

It is seen in the arm folding and gift wrapping stance we are maintaining as seen in Matt. 25.17; Luk. 19.20-21. the cause of the apathy is seen in three ways.

The first is laziness. Laziness means being unwilling to work or be active; not involving much energy activity; or from scriptural implication, being at ease (in Zion) – Am. 6.1; the second cause is lack of zeal – the drive/passion that comes with vision – Jn. 2.17; and the third, Self-interest as seen in Hagg. 1.2-5, when that which pertains to the Lord was left unattended to, but everything done for self.

If we would have a change of attitude then we should understand the implication of this apathy. Am. 6.1-7 proclaimed woe to those who are at ease in Zion, who had what they should do facing them but left it undone. The story in Luk. 19.21-25 also shows us the displeasure of the master and the judgment he meted to the servant that did not make use of what was allotted to him, but had it wrapped up and buried till master returned. The last implication of the apathy of not witnessing Christ is the doom awaiting the sinners – Jn. 3.16,17

The doom of sinners is not the desire of the father and his expectation is we respond in action passionately because of them, rescuing the perishing and caring for the dying – 2 Pet 3.9

Tuesday, June 10

WITNESSING 1- CHRIST PLAN FOR THE GROWTH OF HIS CHURCH

CHRIST PLAN FOR THE GROWTH OF HIS CHURCH - Matt. 16.
The first appearance of the word “church” in the NT was in Matt. 16 where Peter expressed the revelation of whom Jesus is. The claim of Jesus there was that flesh and blood has not revealed the knowledge to Peter, and that upon the revelation that was expressed His church shall be built. It seems as if this to the contemporary church means that we’ve got nothing to do than to trust in the Lord for the building of His church.

The Meaning of the Word church
When we talk about the church of Christ it is good to know what is meant. The word church does not mean the building and not necessarily the organization/denomination. It has to do with the people – the called out ones. People who are called out of the darkness/world into into God's marvellous light.

The promise of Christ Concerning the Church
The promise of Christ was to build his people. That means to construct/to confirm, to have the church built into an edifice. It is for this reason that he gave leadership gifts to the church and us all for one another for mutual edification. To build also by inference would mean to enlarge or increase: one of the ways Christ confirms his church is by increasing it – Acts. 2.47; He builds his church into an edifice and confirms it by granting her visibility on earth.

The Desire of Today's Church
Today’s church wants this increase and visibility for many reason. The first reason could be because Christ wants it – Jn. 10.16; 12.32. Another reason could be because we want it, even much more than the former, for self aggrandizement. Pastors wants to boast of their big churches; members are proud to be associated with such big churches; but unless we want the increase and the visibility because Christ wants it, we may not have true growth/increase. If we want it because he does, then we need to know how he wants His church to grow/increase.

The Plan of Christ for the Growth/Increase of His Church.
Not only did He promised to build his church, He also left instructions for the church - definite instructions. The instructions are related to the mission he came to this earth for - Matt. 1.21; Luk. 19.10; the instruction has to do with work – Luk. 19.13; Jn. 14.12-14. The works which He did, which we can do if we believe in Him; the works concerning which we can do something greater; an opportunity comes to us because Christ is going to the father. It must be for this reason that He gave the promise that whatever we ask in His name He shall do. The work also has to do with Him sending us as the father sent him – Jn. 20.19-23, to witness him or His redemptive work to the world – Acts. 1.8, a work which we must do in the power (with the collaboration) of the Holy Ghost. Jn. 15.26-27; Acts. 5.30.32.

This was the strength of the early church for increase and visibility; they witnessed Christ from Jerusalem … to the ends of the earth; creating a better society, not by merely praying nor merely believing, nor by flashy public relations. This was the example (Jn. 4.34-38) and the instruction from Christ; adhered to by the early church.

The modern church cannot claim him as its Lord if we do not what he commanded.



There is peace and contentment in my Father's house today,
Lots of food on His table and no one turned away.
There is singing and laughter as the hours passes by,
But a hush calms the singing as the Father sadly cries,

My house is full, but my field is empty,
Who will go and work for Me today.
It seems my children want to stay around my table,
But no one wants to work my fields,
No one wants to work my fields.

Push away from the table.
Look out through the windowpane,
Just beyond the house of plenty
Lies a field of golden grain.
And it's ripe unto harvest,
But the reapers, where are they?
In the house,
Oh, can't the children hear
the Father sadly say,

My house is full, but my field is empty,
Who will go and work for Me today.
It seems my children want to stay around my table,
But no one wants to work my fields,
No one wants to work my fields.

Tuesday, June 3

Prioritising Between Doing and Teaching

“The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach until the day in which he was taken up ….” – Acts 1.1

It is time as Christians we began to understand the reality of our calling, that the Christian faith is not evidenced by the abundance of words we speak and in the concepts we generate but in our life actions. Possibly, one of the reasons why spiritual formation is on a downward trend today is because we have not extolled the virtue of right living.

Luke, in his account (Acts 1.1) succinctly and declaratively acquainted us with the life of Christ. He asserted that Christ was first a doer and then a teacher. This shows us the reason for his great exploits in influencing people for God. He demonstrated by the life he lived the things he taught.

For example, it took his exemplary prayer life for his disciples to demand of him to teach them to pray (Luk. 11.1). So if a man that is not prayerful is teaching prayer to the people, he will go as far as giving them academic knowledge.

Christ was able to turn the hearts of men to God, simply because of the way he, himself, was committed to the father.

I remember a denominational preacher I once knew about. He was reputed to have always told the congregation he pastored to do what he was saying and not what he was doing. He did that to prevent many of them from becoming cultists like him, but you see, he could not be effective in establishing the realities of our spiritual walk with God in their lives.

Our Christian witnessing would soon move to another level when we understand that God expects us to live the new life than to generate concepts. We must be the ones to first experience the things we know according to Paul: “The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops”

Peter also made us to know that the Lord should be honoured in our hearts always: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness of fear, having a good conscience ….” The place of the heart, from where flow the forces of life, comes before explanations.

Our light shall shine and our good works would be seen by men, from our Jerusalem to the extremity of the world, when we focus much more on living the new life than talking about it.

Both are important, but there is a priority.

Sunday, May 25

My Friends, "Why don't we Rally?"

We would certainly stop if we drove by a house on fire
to see if we could help, wouldn't we? Yet we know there are
those out there who are going to die lost and spend
eternity in hell, but here we sit, ignoring
God's command to lift up our eyes.

Check out the piece on http://members.aol.com/buffyshome1/full/empty.htm

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